Many of you have already seen the stories we've posted about various Universal television properties and their mention by the studio as being looked at for DVD release. Among the properties we've already mentioned are
Miami Vice,
Bionic Woman,
Dream On,
Leave It To Beaver,
Amazing Stories, and
Murder, She Wrote. Where the heck did TVShowsOnDVD get all this cool info?
Universal has sent out a very nicely crafted book, approximately 35-40 glossy pages long and in full color. The outer cover and first couple of pages is stark black, with silver lettering, that says "Great Television on DVD is Universal. Universal Studios Home Video is Proud To Present Some of the Most Dynamic and Influential Television Shows of the Past 40 Years. The Shows That Defined Generations, Influenced Popular Culture and Set the Standard for Television's Most Groundbreaking Programming are Coming to DVD."
Universal has made this available to certain accounts to let them know what is on their mind for TV-on-DVD plans in the future. No release dates or extras or any other details are in that book...just pretty pictures. Perhaps a few quotes and trivia about the show itself (like how many Emmy awards it was nominated for) here and there. We've gotten some e-mails from readers asking, "How can I get my own copy of the book?" Our response: don't waste your time; other than listing all the titles that Universal wants to put on DVD, it's not worth pursuing. And we're about to make sure you know about the rest of the titles in it. Like
Alfred Hitchcock Presents:
Alfred Hitchcock Presents was a supsenseful anthology series, presented by Hitchcock himself. As the graphic above mentions, it was a place where you could find stars such as Robert Redford, James Caan, Angie Dickenson, Robert Duvall, and Steve McQueen in some of their early roles.
This title is the next-to-last full-page item in the booklet, followed by
Traffic: The Mini-Series. It doesn't stop there, though, because the last two pages each contain a collage of various shows, like
Leave it to Beaver (as mentioned in our story about that title). Here's a scan of those pages:
It looks like there are quite a few properties that Universal is getting set to send home. Many titles we've already posted separate news items for, such as
The Apprentice, American Dreams, Magnum P.I., Buck Rogers, The Munsters, and others. Moreover, several properties in there have already had releases on DVD:
Monk, Northern Exposure, and even the original
Battlestar Galactica. The latter is right next to a page showing off the new re-make mini-series, though, so perhaps that's why the already-released version is shown.
So many of you have asked for a complete run-down of the contents of this book, I've decided to list them out for you. I'll also mention which ones are double-page listings:
- Miami Vice (2-Page), The Apprentice (2-page), American Dreams (2-page), Monk, Northern Exposure, Magnum P.I. (2-page), The A-Team, Knight Rider, Law & Order (2-page), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Quantum Leap, Sliders, original BattleStar Galactica, new BattleStar Galactica mini-series, Dream On, Amazing Stories, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Bionic Woman, Columbo, Murder She Wrote, The Munsters, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Traffic: The Mini-Series, collage #1, and collage #2.
- Collage #1: Adam 12, Dragnet (new version), Dragnet (old version), It Takes A Thief, Coach, Simon & Simon, The Rockford Files, Ironside, and Marcus Welby M.D.
- Collage #2: Kojak, Baa Baa Black Sheep, McCloud, Leave It To Beaver, Quincy M.E., Emergency!, McHale's Navy, and Centennial.
There are more than enough titles in there to please most people. Many of you will be disappointed by what isn't listed, though. Others will be disappointed later on by what's listed, but doesn't come out right away...or even gets cancelled.
Bear in mind that just because these titles are in the booklet now, it doesn't mean that plans can't change and the release get put off, or cancelled entirely. These are long-range plans, and there's no guarantees that these will all see the light of day. Also, not all known upcoming DVD releases from NBC-Universal are included in the booklet.
Stay tuned, and as soon as official word comes down on any of these titles, we'll be right on top of it. Hey, it might even start sooner than you think!
We'll wrap this up with a bonus pic taken from the
Buck Rogers page:
